


Shot at the Night

by Alexwritesfics



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Bickering vampire husbands oh my gosh, Eventual Vamp!Andy, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of blood and violence, Re-upload, Vamp!Thomas, mild sexual themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 11:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4390673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alexwritesfics/pseuds/Alexwritesfics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andy discovers a dark secret regarding Thomas - but things may not be as macabre as they seem. Re-upload.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shot at the Night

**Author's Note:**

> A re-upload of my self-indulgent vampire fic. Inspired by a drawing of Kaxen's. Title is a song by the Killers (if you know me you know I have a bit of a thing for them). Enjoy x

'How long have you known?'

'It happened a few years back. I thought I'd been attacked by a wild animal when I finally woke up.' Thomas chuckled, eyes flickering back to the young footman's with a flash of stunning scarlet. 'I should've known things wouldn't be that simple for someone like me.'

Andy lay his head against Thomas' chest, feet hanging a little off the bed, finally calming down after the brief brush with death he'd had. Walking back from the Velvet Violin had proven deadly, the London streets filled with lurking dangers and everyday horrors. A man had advanced on Andy with a knife but before the footman had any chance to react, Thomas had reached out and... And...

There had been blood. _So much blood._ Andy had nearly been sick, but Thomas had helped him up from where he had sank to the ground and helped to support the unsteady footman as they made their way back to safety.

Andy didn't know why he felt safe with Thomas - maybe it was because after all of the carnage, the underbutler had become warm and kind once again, calm and in-control of the situation, reassuring Andy that none of this was the footman's fault, and that they were both going to be alright.

But Andy could never look at Thomas the same. Sharp fangs. Dark-red eyes, searching and unreadable. Blood staining his hands.

_Vampire._

'Why aren't you frightened of me, Andy?' Thomas asked softly.

'I don't know,' Andy answered honestly. 'I still keep thinking this is all a strange dream.'

'A strange nightmare?'

'W-Well, the part in the alley, maybe...' Andy shuddered. 'But this... No, not this part. Who attacked you?' Andy asked tentatively, hesitant but burning with a new-found curiosity for this side of Thomas he'd only recently seen. He fiddled with the folds of the duvet nervously, wondering if he'd overstepped the mark while he waited for Thomas to give him either an answer or a scolding.

'...He was the valet of a visiting Duke,' Thomas said finally, inhuman eyes watching the flicker of the candle on the table next to them. 'We were together for a brief period, but I suppose he decided that he- he wanted a companion-' Thomas hesitated, closing his eyes, and Andy simultaneously savoured the moment when the underbutler looked oh-so-familiar and anticipated the second when those brilliant blood-red eyes would reveal themselves again.

'So he b-bit you?'

'-He was careless,' Thomas said with distaste, his lips momentarily pulled up into something of a snarl, sharp teeth glinting in the low light of the bedroom. 'Sloppy, severely lacking in restraint. I was badly hurt. He clearly panicked and left me there to bleed out.' The vampire frowned. 'The hospital staff told me I was lucky to be alive after such a vicious attack.'

'Why did you attack the man in the alley?' Andy asked in a small voice, scenes of imagined carnage flashing before his eyes.

There was a pause, and Andy simply shifted a little in his position to get comfortable, watching the flickering light of the candle make the shadows dance on the walls.

'I didn't want you to get hurt,' Thomas said softly. 'Besides, it was self-defence... And I was getting a little hungry,' the gentle vampire finished, a little bit of nervousness creeping into his tone.

'Hungry?'

'Every once in a while, I need to feed.'

'Do you... D-Do you kill people, is that what you do?' Andy said, his heart starting to beat faster in his chest. He couldn't picture the idea of Thomas being a casual murderer, a monster lacking in any sort of remorse. It was too horrifying a scenario to imagine.

'Well, I try not to. If someone finds out or tries to hurt me, I may have to make sure they don't talk.'

Andy shivered at Thomas' dark words. 'So... How do you-?'

'If I come across another one of my kind, we might - share each other.' Thomas paused, frowning again. 'And sometimes I seek out people and make sure they're sleeping before I take blood. I don't use teeth, though.'

'Why?'

'Full of questions tonight, aren't you?' Thomas said with a rueful smirk.

'Well, c-can you bloody blame me?' Andy said with a nervous laugh.

Thomas sighed. 'Biting can change a person. And I don't wish it on anyone who doesn't want to be alone. It's so solitary. I've heard from the others, we live... We live forever, Andy, and I'm really not sure how to feel about it, even when I've had all this time to think about it. But I guess I'll have even more time to think about it, ahah...'

'So... You'd change someone? You know, i-if they wanted to be with you...?'

Thomas licked his lips a little and said: 'Y-Yeah. Yeah, I reckon so.'

Andy's breath hitched, and the words are out of his mouth before he could stop himself. '-Would you change me?'

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Andy felt the blood rush to his face, neck, chest, and suddenly he was aware of just how much blood he was filled with, _so much blood,_ blood that could be spilled so easily... He felt himself instinctively shift up the bed so his neck was in line with those sinful, ungodly lips, the intoxicating haze that was spreading across his body making him feel dizzy and willing to submit. He was scared, so scared, yet so, so ready for something he didn't even think possible a mere few hours earlier.

Thomas chuckled again, the sound sending a peculiar shiver coursing through Andy's body, and those tantalising lips brushed against the footman's bared neck. 'Oh, Andy...' the underbutler said, and Andy could hear a melancholy edge to Thomas' tone.

Andy felt something inside him wither and fade when Thomas murmured: 'Never.'

~*~

_"Numbers of reports of inner-city wild animal attacks are on the rise-"_

_"Police have yet to get to the bottom of the graffiti markings left around both London and Manchester that bear a striking resemblance to that of the ones in San Francisco and-"_

Andrew Parker-Barrow turned off the flat-screen television with a small sigh, though a smile spread across his face when he heard the front door open and close. 'The younger ones are at it again! Happens every few years, and social media only seemed to make it worse.'

'Hmph, hello to you, too,' a suit-clad Thomas Barrow-Parker said as he walked through the living room door, briefcase in hand.

Andy grinned, getting up from the sofa to kiss Thomas on the lips, nimble hands making quick work of the knot of Thomas' tie. 'Don't be moody with me because you've been stuck in the archives all day-'

'-I like the archives,' Thomas said with an arched eyebrow. 'It keeps me busy. But I don't like the incompetent fellow I work with. It felt like an eternity rather than an afternoon.'

Andy rolled his eyes. ' _Please_ stop with the awful puns and look over the new pages I did today...'

'Oh yes, how is the epic graphic novel coming along, Mister Parker-Barrow?'

Andy smiled at the use of his own name, eyes looking down to briefly admire the ring on his finger. 'Fine, I think I'm actually on-schedule for once.'

They'd had many different lives over the years, and difficulties had come their way more than once. They'd had to run away and start all over again for what felt like a thousand times. Sometimes, their time spent in a place had simply run its course, and they moved for a change of pace, and incidentally to discover new things about their ever-changing world. They had seen the rise of new technology and followed its process, adapting well to it. They even spent months apart from each other, learning things on their own, meeting interesting new people - but they had been forged in fire, and would always be drawn back to each other, lines blurring as the decades went by until they weren't sure where one ended and the other one began. It was almost enough to drive someone mad, but with each other as their companions, they made sense of the confusing life they were living.

They enjoyed becoming different people for varying lengths of time - right now, they were Misters Damien and Edward Pearsson. Thomas stubbornly refused to give up his penchant for classic suits - though on occasion he could rock a plaid shirt and blue jeans - but had opted for some horn-rimmed glasses this life around as a reminder to himself to keep up the facade. Andy adored them when they rested just-so on Thomas' face, finding that they made his husband look mature and sophisticated. Thomas complained when Andy said such things, replying that Andy was making it out to sound like Thomas was "an old man", though this argument usually dissolved into laughter when Andy pointed out that they were both, in fact, ancient by many people's standards.

Same-sex marriage legalisation resulted in a small ceremony inside a registry office, and Thomas and Andy couldn't be happier. They may have been different people outside of their apartment, but whenever Thomas walked through that door Damien became Andrew Parker-Barrow again.

Thomas had mastered many things over the years, but Andy had spent a great deal of time honing his skill of drawing. He was now a celebrated graphic novel artist under a pseudonym.

'Let me have a look at you before we get to work on your novel,' Thomas said, cradling Andy's face with his hands.

'You have forever to look at me,' Andy reasoned. 'I missed you too, but they want to see a preview of my work next Thursday.'

'Forever's never going to be enough. I could look at you forever and it still wouldn't be enough.'

'When did I decide to get stuck with such a soppy man?'

Thomas grinned wickedly. 'Well, I distinctly remember you asking me to bite you. Quite vehemently. It took months of convincing, but I'd say things worked out pretty well.' Thomas' fangs slowly began to make themselves known, and Andy felt the familiar feeling of heat pool in the pit of his stomach.

Andy blushed, even after all this time. 'G-God, sometimes we're worse than Twilight.'

Thomas groaned, fangs disappearing as he frowned. 'Please don't bring up that bloody book.'

'Then help me with my bloody book,' Andy countered, moving away from Thomas to put a record on.

'They have the Killers on vinyl?'

'Indeed they do. I picked it up yesterday. I don't really know why, we already have far too many records to pass ourselves off as ordinary humans.' Thomas smiled and shook his head, unbuttoning his shirt a little, scars from all those years ago peeking through. He threw his jacket down, setting his briefcase aside, before walking over and taking Andy's hands in his own. 'We've got all night,' the former underbutler said softly.

Andy nodded, smiling a little. 'I know.' He rearranged himself into the leading waltz position, beginning to dance with Thomas to the music. 'Uh, I think I should've picked a better record for waltzing...'

'It's fine,' Thomas said softly. 'Now tell me, what's all this about the young vamps again?'

'Well, it's like sex,' Andy said. 'The young ones think they invented it, they forget us old dinosaurs are still floating around having it off with each other.'

Thomas laughed at the remark, Andy watching the way his eyes turned a little red. It used to unnerve Andy, but now he took it as a sign that Thomas was relaxing, feeling comfortable enough to be his true self in-front of his husband.

'So we're talking about blood-drinking?' Thomas said.

'Yeah,' Andy replied. 'Blood-drinking and not ageing and generally just being a vampire. I think they want to start a vampire uprising of some sorts. Ah, I don't know. Guess I'm out of touch. They're young, they're scared, but I'm not really sure what they're hoping to gain from all this...'

'Who knows, maybe it'll happen for them,' Thomas reasoned as they glided across the floor of their apartment, Thomas still in his shirt and waiscoat, Andy in a white t-shirt and ripped blue jeans. 'It's a brave new world, it's always been a brave new world out there.'

'Y-Yeah, I guess so...'

'...You look hungry, Andrew.'

'Oh, do I? W-Well, yeah, I guess it’s been a while.'

'You've been staring at the vein in my neck for a bit, are you sure you're alright?' 

'I'm fine. B-But yeah. Yeah,' Andy repeated with a touch more firmness, 'yeah, I guess I'm pretty hungry.'

Thomas stopped dancing until they were both holding each other and merely swaying to the music. 'Why is it after all these years that you won't tell me when you're hungry? When you changed, I promised you that I would take care of you...'

'...And you have, Thomas. Spectacularly.'

'And you've taken care of me, but that's the point, we take care of each other. Just ask for me when you want me, and I'll give it to you.'

Andy rolled his eyes. 'H-Honestly, it's not such a big deal-'

'-Andrew.' Thomas' eyes flashed red from behind his glasses. 'If you want me, have me.'

Andy's mouth began to water as Thomas' neck was bared to him, and the former footman's fangs appeared despite himself, as if this was the most natural thing in all the world.

And it was always heaven, having those same fangs sink into Thomas' willing flesh, the sweetness of his lover's blood dancing on his waiting tongue. Andy's head swirled as he drank the scarlet liquid, Thomas still tasting so wonderful and warm after all these years.

The record played on, and Andy was dimly aware that Thomas was smiling in contentment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
